Bus scraped my car, have to go through insurers?

emmathe37th

Evening. I'll keep the situation as brief as possible!

Tight road, I stopped, bus ploughed on, scraped my car. Driver didn't stop, I reported to police and bus company.
Bus company were willing to pay for damage until it got to the boss, then he wanted it through insurance.
I went through insurance. They needed physical evidence of liability. Contradictory (and pretty rude) emails from the bus company saying the bus was stationary, and then saying the driver wasn't aware he'd hit me (erm, not sure that makes sense) weren't enough. It became clear it was going to end up 50/50 liability, I'd have to get it repaired at their approved garage for £850, pay £350 excess, and have it on my record.

My insurance company agreed with me that I was better off cancelling the claim, getting it repaired at a cheaper garage and going through small claims court as a judge would be able to look at all the evidence and make a decision.

I got the work done. £250. Contacted the bus company to let them know I'd be sending a letter before action but would be happy to receive a cheque for the costs before it came to that. They've said to go through their insurance company and he wants nothing to do with it.

So what do I do now? Do I ring their insurers? If I send a letter before action, do I send it to the insurers or the bus company? Can I even do that?! All I want is some sodding justice! Am I on to a losing battle here? Small person Vs insurers and possible legal team?!

Also, I know it's not a massive amount of money but it's the principle!!

Quentin

You sue the bus company, not their insurer.


But why not try their insurer first (that won't cost you anything) See if they will pay your claim.


If you go down the court route then you pay all the court costs up front and only get them back (off the other side) if you win

jonesMUFCforever

Quentin wrote: »

You sue the bus company, not their insurer.


But why not try their insurer first (that won't cost you anything) See if they will pay your claim.


If you go down the court route then you pay all the court costs up front and only get them back (off the other side) if you win

Money claims online will minimise court costs - if you win you can claim them back from the bus company or thir insurers.

OnanTheBarbarian

If you need to issue proceedings download Form Ex160 (Google it) as you may get remission from having to pay court fees if you pass the criteria.

You can either sue the bus company or their insurer, but the wording of the claim to sue the insurer is far more complex and the bus company will be self-insured upto about £250K anyway, so they will always end up dealing with the claim rather than their insurer in any event.

spikyone

emmathe37th wrote: »

My insurance company agreed with me that I was better off cancelling the claim, getting it repaired at a cheaper garage and going through small claims court as a judge would be able to look at all the evidence and make a decision.

Out of curiosity, what evidence do you have? From what you've said it seems unlikely there are independent witnesses or dashcam footage - your insurers were going to go 50/50 - so why do you think you will win in court?

"It's the principle" is all well and good, but your sense of injustice alone won't be enough to convince a judge, so you should weigh up whether the time and cost are actually worth it. Yes, it's not fair and life sucks sometimes, but we've all been metaphorically kicked in the nuts at some point and you need to know which battles are truly worth fighting.

molerat

Must be a very small local bus company then, all the big name buses round here are absolutely bristling with cameras for precisely this type of event.